Fēnix
by fornarniaooh pancakes
Summary: A girl running from imprisonment meets the honorable Starks. How will she change their fates?
1. Prologue

Fēnix

**Hidow so here is a story and since no one reads this anyways. I'm just gonna say enjoy and don't own.**

Prologue

3rd Person Pov

King's Landing was a terrible city. While no one dared say it to some of the nobles' faces it was a playground of sin. The people in the Red Keep grew fatter on the taxes collected from the commoners, and more like pigs from the generous giving from the whores in the city. It smelled like horse shit and death. That was probably the best description of the entire city. A giant, dressed up, horse shit with death looming over it.

Two people were leaving this city behind. One being a prisoner in the Red Keep almost all of her life, and the other was a man she trusted with her life. No one would care that he was gone, and she was glad she could take her 'dancing master' with her. It had taken some convincing, imploring, and logical thought processes to make him come with her.

These two people were Syrio Forel, the former first sword of Braavos, and Lady Aednat Fēnix, the last known person from her house. Aednat had been kept in King's Landing since she was three, raised by her mother's distant cousin's Jon Arryn the Hand of the King and his wife Lysa Arryn. Syrio Forel after fleeing Braavos when his master was murdered on his orders came to her teacher and one of her only friends. They carried very little, a few changes of clothes, their swords, some food that would only last them a week, and a little bit of silver. However, the two needed to make it to their destination otherwise both of their lives would be forfeit.

Lord Varys did not like the current regime. Oh, he served them but not to the best of his ability. He would never agree with those child killers. Which is why the spider decided to get the phoenix out of her cage and away from the lions and stag that torment her, and to get her with those he owes his true allegiance to, the Targaryens. He had her and her 'dancing' master snuck out of the city by boat and dropped off a few miles up the King's road. Then they would go to White Harbor and take a boat he owns east to Pentos, where hopefully she can marry Viserys Targaryen. Then she would be queen when the Targaryen's came back to rule over the whole of Westeros.

All in all a very tidy plan, but one with a very large hole in it, if they were caught they were all dead. Everyone that was involved would be executed and they wouldn't even make it into history, and become forgotten people that died a long time ago. However, Varys was confident that they wouldn't go down without a fight, and if they were caught. He could only hope it was someone who would see her value and keep her alive.

So, the two under the cloak of night made their escape from King's Landing to hopefully never be seen until all of the Lannister and Baratheon's, that were peacefully sleeping, were dead.

**Okay hope you like this and again don't own.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hidow how are you guys? Are ya fabulaus? wEll hope ya guys enjoy this story and don't own except fur meh OCs. So yeah. Also so the name**

**Aednat (pronounced ey-nit)= little fire**

**Fēnix= old English spelling of phoenix it is pronounced the same.**

Chapter 1

3rd Person Pov

The caravan of Starks had just come across a savaged stag. It looked like it had been torn to pieces by something and they could only hope that they didn't find it.

"What's that sound?" Bran the youngest in the group asked. The rest of the group focuses in on sounds of a fight.

Bran is put on a horse and told that if they don't come back to go towards Winterfell. However before they can go into the brush the fighters come out to see them. A man is kicked out of the brush and forced onto his back by the next figure that comes barreling into him. The figure lands on top of the other man and begins trying to punch his face in.

The first one to react is surprisingly Jon Snow. He hoists the figure off of the man and drags them away. They kick and try to head butt him but he won't let go of their extremely small waist. Then the others do the same when the other figure gets up and launches a punch at the struggling figure in the Snow's arms.

"What is going on here?!" Ned yells at them. The figure held by Jon stops struggling and takes off their hood.

Everyone gasps seeing the person underneath the hood. First thing they notice is that she is a girl, and a pretty one at that. Well, she would be beautiful if she didn't have so many scars. She had two scars on her face that you could see, one on her forehead disappearing into her hairline and the other along her cheek underneath her eyes. Her skin is pale and otherwise unmarred from what they can see. Her hair seemed unnaturally colored, but they through it off as sun. Closer to her head there was a darker red and as it went down towards the ends it got lighter. Her eyes are large and a very light brown almost golden color. She was wearing a tunic and trousers along with boots. She also had knives at her belt. Which Jon quickly snatched away.

Eddard seems to recognize her.

"Lady Fēnix? Why are you here, in boy clothes? I thought you were in King's Landing."

"I was trying to escape when I ran into this rapist. I believe you know him as Ramsay Snow. At least that is what he said his name was. He attacked me and my traveling companion who is in those bushes and probably dying from losing so much blood."

"Why would you risk your life escaping?" Robb asked thinking that she was crazy.

"I would rather die than be forced to marry that beast Joffery Baratheon. The boy is mad! You have no idea the level of cruelty he likes to inflict upon people."

"So you ran." Eddard said as he knew a similar story.

"Yes, and I was almost there." She said defeated.

"Jon let her go and collect her traveling companion. Get him to Winterfell as quickly as you can."

"Yes father." He lets her go and disappears into the brush. He comes out a minute later carrying a thin bald man with an earring and a nice sword. Jon gets on his horse holding the man and rides off as fast as he can.

"My lady can you walk?" Robb asks thinking that she is like most ladies, or fragile.

"I've gotten from King's Landing to here. I believe I'll be fine my lord." Robb is taken aback and says.

"Well aren't you rude."

"You would rude as well if you were being led to what will most likely be your death." Robb is silent and leaves her alone and they walk a little forward trying to see what caused the deer to be ravaged.

They see a huge carcass of a dire wolf on the side of the road surrounded by squealing pups.

"She whelped before she died, mi'lord. 5 pups." Aednat's eyes narrow and she says.

"I would recount. There's a little white thing crawling away from the others. Which makes six dire wolf pups." The stewards grab the little white pup and see that his eyes are open. They figure out that he's an albino due to his red eyes.

"Should we put them out of their misery mi'lord?" One of the stewards asks, drawing their sword.

"The first dire wolves seen south of the Wall in over a century and you want to kill them?" Aednat asks incredulously her eyebrows raised.

"We can't control them, their wild animals!" One of the other stewards said.

"So you are saying that the stories about the Kings of Winter having tame dire wolves at their sides are a lie? If anyone can control dire wolves it's the Starks."

"What would you know Southerner?" One of the stewards asks, sneering.

"I was kept prisoner in the South the majority of my life, but I was born in the North, and my family is of the North. I am as much as a Northerner as you are ser." She glares at the man and flinches from the pure steely anger that haunts those amber colored eyes.

"Enough! Gather up the pups, if my children can't control them then we will release them into the Night's Watches custody so that they can get them north of the Wall." All of the stewards nod seeing that it is a good plan with no useless loss of life.

The caravan continues towards Winterfell with everyone ending up on horseback. Aednat was exactly happy at the fact that she had to sit with the heir of Winterfell. He didn't like her very much and she decided to ignore him. She was rather good at that. Bran however would leave her alone and kept asking her questions.

"Did you ever meet Ser Barrinstan?" He asks excitedly about his hero.

"Yes, we are actually rather close. He is like a grandfather or great-uncle to me."

"Is it true that he still enters tourneys?" Bran asks. She laughs but not cruelly.

"Oh, not anymore. He stopped about two years ago. He is getting old and the Mountain has started to enjoy tourneys a lot more, ever since the rebellion."

"We don't really hear much from the South. Is King's Landing anything like the songs?"

"You mean a beautiful place filled with great lords and ladies? No, it's a giant horse shit of a city and the people aren't much more virtuous."

"What does that mean?" He asks genuinely confused.

"It means it's the home of sycophants, liars, thieves, and murders that hide behind their family names and make play that they are virtuous people." Aednat is silent after that and not matter the coaxing she won't answer any more questions.

The journey continues and only an hour's ride later they arrive at Winterfell. Aednat gapes at the large structure that she had only heard about in stories. The home of these people who were her parent's liege lords and ladies, and should be hers, but circumstances didn't allow it. She could see why the North would only bow to dragons, anything else seemed too small and insignificant to get past these walls. She could also believe that it was built by a man called Bran the Builder. If this is how great Winterfell is, she can't even imagine the Wall.

"I believe she has finally realized how handsome I am Robb." She glares at the boy she quickly determined was the last Greyjoy boy born to Balon Greyjoy.

"Why don't you go fall off of those towers you chauvinistic pig." She snaps back at him. He is taken aback; obviously he believes all women were weak-willed once they were grown.

They enter the Keep and are immediately greeted by a woman Aednat almost mistakes for Lysa Arryn, so it must be her sister Lady Catelyn Stark. She looked younger than her younger sister, but she assumed it was from Lady Catelyn being away from the poison of King's Landing and actually giving birth to most of her children and the babes living. She seems worried most likely over her son seeing as her husband's bastard came home with a bleeding man.

"Ned, thank the gods that all of you are alright. Who is this? And who was the man Jon brought?"

"I can answer that Lady Stark. My name is Lady Aednat Fēnix, and the man that was brought in was my travelling companion, Syrio Forel the First Sword of Braavos. We were ambushed by the pig that is held by one of your husband's stewards."

"Lady Fēnix? What are you doing in the North wearing men clothing?" She asked aghast.

"Trying to escape. I failed and I guess my life is now forfeit." Everyone stares at the girl who told them of her impending death like one would discuss a harvest. "Whether I'm executed or forced to marry that beast Joffery. I will never be in control of my life again." No one speaks for a few minutes as they are utterly haunted by what she said. "I am but a traitor's daughter." She says bitterly.

"C-come, we need to get you cleaned up. If these are your last days amongst the living then I won't have you dressed like a commoner under my roof if I can help it." Aednat curtsies as best as she can in her trousers.

She follows Lady Catelyn to a room and she is immediately tended to by handmaidens. They set out a bath for her and try to help her undress until she says.

"Please, I had to learn how to do many things myself. I can undress myself without help."

They leave and let her have her bath. She undressed quietly and after she was in she almost moaned in appreciation. It was a little hotter than most people would like but she had always liked hotter baths, maybe because Fēnixs were supposed to be an off shoot of the Targaryen's. No one believed it but it was a nice legend for a damned girl. She hadn't been able to have a proper bath in almost a month and she was going to enjoy this as much as she could. This might be one of the last times she's clean for the rest of her life. It was strange thinking that. She knew that now she was caught it was most likely only a matter of time, and she had accepted that she might die one day. However, now that it was coming towards her faster than winter could reach Westeros she felt almost scared, but glad at the same time. She didn't really have a good life and death would most likely be much kinder to her than life. She would be able to see her family again. She could only hope that she wasn't married to a Lannister or worst Joffery. Otherwise she would kill herself before the wedding, whether it is poison or throwing herself into the sea. Either fate that would be foisted upon her would lead to her soon to be death. Lady Catelyn comes in and seeing her still in the bath asks.

"Is it alright if I am in here?"

"It is fine Lady Stark." She sits behind the girl and starts to do her hair. Aednat feels relaxed. She can barely remember her mother; only golden soaked paintings of her exist in her mind. However, she knew Lady Lysa and the little mothering she could spare between her descent into something resembling madness, and those sparse memories. Catelyn seemed like a very caring woman and she could feel it in the motherly and loving way she was brushing out her hair.

"My daughter Sansa says she's too old for this, and my daughter Arya hates anything lady-like. Are you okay with this?"

"Yes, it feels relaxing. It reminds me of the times your sister Lady Arryn could spare to mother her husband's distant cousin."

"You are close with my sister?" Aednat nods in affirmative. "How is she?"

"Not very well my lady. Physically she's fine; however it's her mind that I'm worried about. I think loosing most of her children has taken its toll on her. All she talks about now is her only surviving son Robert, whom she calls Robynn, and Peytr Baelish."

"Why would she be talking about Peytr?"

"I have suspicions that they are having an affair Lady Stark. I know that you don't like hearing it, but it seems too strange to just talk about a friend. Especially one that claims both of your maidenheads."

"He what?" Catelyn asked angry that her friend would do so.

"He claimed that he took both you and your sister's maidenheads. I wouldn't trust him Lady Stark. Whoever he was before he got ambition, well that person is more dead than the Mad King." Catelyn could tell that she didn't want to talk about her family's old squire and she didn't know if she would be able to without blowing up.

"May I ask how it was in King's Landing?"

"Of course Lady Stark. I suppose it could be worse for someone of my stature but it wasn't the best childhood. I was given a lot of freedom, as no one wanted to be associated with me besides Lord Arryn. I may have been a Gulltown Arryn on my mother's side but he still saw me as family. I usually spent time in the library and tried to avoid most everyone. However, when Robert got into his drunken rages it was not a good day for me. Sometimes I wouldn't be given food or water for the entire day. Sometimes I was just locked in my rooms, and once I was beaten in front of the entire court." She is shocked and pales.

"I heard something about his son Joffery being beastly or mad according to you." Catelyn said looking at Aednat disapprovingly.

"Well he is rather beastly and I can only hope it is a phase. He had been a sweet child, much like young Tommen is now. However, as he got older he grew to have a temper and the belief that once he was king he would be untouchable. He often makes fun of my scars in front of the entire court. However, it's what he does to animals that disturbs me the most."

"And what is that?" She asked genuinely alarmed.

"Once when a kitchen cat was about to have kittens Joffery grew impatient, and he decided he wanted to see the kitten right then. He cut them out of their mother, and showed a dead kitten to his father and the rest of the small council. I also remember that he killed and skinned his brother's fawn right in front of the poor boy. He was scared for a couple moons."

"By the Gods. Doesn't King Robert do anything to him?" Catelyn asks.

"No, Cersei would poison him in his bed if he did anything to harm her _poor little boy_." Aednat spits out disgusted by the queen that she was rule by.

There is silence and Catelyn finishes brushing through the young woman's red locks. She then excuses herself and goes immediately to her husband's solar. She interrupts a meeting but this is important.

"My lord, I am sorry that I interrupted but this is something urgent regarding our new guest."

Eddard sighed and sent his stewards and Maester Luwin out of the room. Catelyn doesn't sit she stays there and once everyone is gone she takes a deep breath.

"Ned, we can't turn her over to Robert and the Lannisters." He looks shocked.

"Why is that Cat?"

"She is the daughter of one of your houses sworn bannermen, in fact she is the last. Didn't Robert tell you what happened to her?" He mulls it over and says.

"Only reports on her progress in becoming a lady, but those were few and far in between."

"She's been beaten in front of the entire court, on Robert's orders. I don't know how old she was, but she is only Jon's age. For _a child_ to have to go through _that_ and more, the gods help her if she is in their control again. She is one of your people, our people, and we need to make sure she is safe. If he finds her, Robert will kill her just like he did the rest of her family."

"What am I to do Cat? Marry her into the family? I promised Robb he would choose his own wife, and I'm not about to force him into a marriage. The boys are too young, and marrying Theon would be less than beneficial for the both of them."

"Marry her to Jon then. He is a 'son' of one of Robert's greatest friends and it will be demeaning enough for him to allow it. They also wouldn't want the wife of a bastard."

"I will not damn my sister's child to a loveless marriage!"

"What else can we do? Anyone else would be too low to keep her safe from the crown."

"I will think it over Cat, but I need to talk to her." His wife sighs.

"Of course, but please we need to hurry. The longer we wait the more of a chance we have of her being taken by the Lannisters or killed."

**So hope you guys enjoy.**


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